I have no whimsical or intelligent introduction with which to frame this. Sometimes things just happen:

The female chief executive officer of Archie Comics is being sued for gender discrimination by her male employees.

Nancy Silberkleit’s lawyers claim the suit is baseless because the employees, all white men, don’t belong to a protected class.

You have my attention. Do go on:

The five employees — including Archie president Mike Pellerito and editor-in-chief Victor Gorelick — claim that Silberkleit used “gender as a weapon” to degrade them, for example, by refusing to call them by their names and instead referring to all of them as “Penis.” They also accuse her of frequently yelling “Penis! Penis! Penis!” in staff meetings.

According to court records, “[p]laintiffs fail to allege that any such comments were directed at any of the plaintiffs in particular, or they could cause extreme emotional distress even if they had been.”

But the employees contend that “the word ‘penis’ became somewhat of a campaign slogan and her preferred method of referring to employees in lieu of their names.”

“So we go to printer by the sixth, and then –”

“PENIS! PENIS! PENIS!”

“…go to printer by the sixth, which means we should be able to ship by–”

“PENIS! PENIS! PENIS!”

Please feel to picture that scene from 30 Rock where Tracy screams “PANTS! PANTS! PANTS!” but with the CEO of Archie Comics and the word “PENIS!” instead for the rest of the afternoon. That’s what I will be doing.

According to the employee’s suit, she also invites Hell’s Angels into the office to intimidate employees, and frequently inquires about the location of a handgun and 750 rounds of ammunition she believes her late husband kept in the office.

tragicallyludicrous

Now, I don't throw around the word "hero" very often, but…

citizenchristy

Literally shaking with laughter at my desk.

Also, I read SO MANY Archie Comics as a child. My brothers and I would grab them in the supermarket checkout lane and beg our mother to buy them for us, and if she didn't relent, we'd go home and re-read the issues she'd purchased as a child.

contrarianbear

"Thank all of the amazing women fighting for progressive change everyday"

Once I stopped laugh/crying, I actually read the articles and now I'm wondering…is she being gaslit, being given the "hysterical female" treatment, or is she legitimately unstable and giving female CEOs a bad rep? Now I have chills.

SarcasticFringehead

I honestly cannot tell.

naglayaxuliganka

If this is true, frankly, I think it's pretty bad.

Megano!

(Is she old? It sounds a bit like dementia, to be honest.)

MrsHuntingCreek

Don't try this at home, kids. This special kind of misandry should be practiced by licensed Women CEOs only.

Read this to my husband. He says those men are wusses and need to Man Up.

mclloyddavies

The leadership over there is actually really bonkers; there was a really intense court battle for control of the company maybe a year ago. There are two co-CEOs who are each children of founders, and they have a really acrimonious relationship, apparently. That was how I first heard about the "penis, penis, penis" thing–she walked into a meeting while the lawsuit was happening and pointed at each male editor, one by one, and said "penis." For a while I think she was banned from the premises.

AmazingSandwich

This seems more messed up than funny, and I gotta say that I'm not laughing.

lassotabasco

Yep, this is absolutely not healthy behavior and I don't think it's funny either.

NicoleCliffe

I think it is both funny AND creates a hostile work environment and should be halted with extreme prejudice.

MrsTeacherFace

Soo… this is kind of hilarious, but also… I mean, that does sound like a hostile work environment if what they're saying is true.﻿